Exploring the Color #9DCDD0

#9DCDD0 sits at 184° on the color wheel, placing it in the cyan family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 35% saturation and 72% lightness, it reads as a softly muted, light tone — a balanced mid-energy presence that sits comfortably alongside other UI tones. Its RGB mix of 157, 205, 208 produces a 12.08:1 contrast ratio against black, which clears WCAG AAA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #9DCDD0 is a clear variant of CSS sky blue — about 35 units away from #87CEEB. Designers reach for cyan hues at this saturation when the brief calls for a conversational, mid-energy register, and at this lightness when they want lift, air, and gentle emphasis. On screen the cool cast tends to pair best with warm neutrals in the 25°-45° range to add life.

Darkening Shades

Lightening Shades